Kingdom Keepers, Together We Are
by OCfanfiction100
Summary: Fourth Installment of Azalea June Saga. (Finn/OC/Maybeck) Azalea is back with the rest of the gang, this time trying to foil a plot to get Maleficent and Chernabog out of prison. When personal tragedy strikes, Lea discovers the identity of the one person that she missed all her life, her mother. Follow her trials with her best friends, the Kingdom Keepers. I don't own the KK!
1. Chapter 1

Certain Death, Again.

Azalea's P.O.V.

I met Finn and Charlene at DisneyQuest. The other Keepers and the two sisters were somewhere else in the complex and I had only been able to find Finn and Charlene. "Let's split," Finn whispered.

"What's wrong?" I whispered back, looking around for any suspicious characters.

"Greg's over by the arcade. If he sees us, it's not going to end well." I frowned at the thought of Greg "Lousy" Luowski. The oaf who was currently playing some game was the ninth grade bully of Finn and I's school. He also happened to have a crush on me and try to mess with Finn because we hang out. Key word there is try.

"Let's head towards the CyberSpace Mountain," Charlene stated, pulling Finn in that direction. I took one last quick glance at Greg to make sure he hadn't noticed us before running after the cheerleader and the boy she was currently dragging over to the simulator. We got in line.

"Uh oh," Finn sighed. "Lousy noticed us." I turned and looked behind me to see Greg making his way towards us with a frown on his face that made it look like he had taken a dodge ball to the face in gym class, which I may or may not have thrown at him. I walked up to one of the roller coaster designers and made one for Charlene, who insisted upon having every single loop and drop in her rollercoaster.

I saved it on her ticket and made a milder one for me. After I saved it on my ticket, I made the mildest roller coaster on the face of the earth for Finn who insisted that Barnstormer was as wild as he wanted his rollercoaster. I took all three tickets and was about to hand them to my fellow Keepers when someone knocked me down from behind.

I fell forward, dropping the tickets on the floor in the process. "Lay of Luowski," Finn growled, helping me up. Greg glared at Finn before placing the tickets lightly into my hand.

"I am sorry, truly, Azalea," Greg replied to me before stalking off. I raised an eyebrow as I dusted myself off.

"You okay?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, it was probably a ploy by him to make him seem nice for a change," I shrugged handing Finn and Charlene their tickets. Finn still looked upset as I dragged him up the stairs. I was led to a simulator where an attendant choose my ride and opened the door for me. I thanked her and got in. I buckled my seat belt and after the attendant checked it, closed the door.

The ride started, and it went through exactly as I designed it and was over after about three minutes. I unbuckled my seatbelt and walked outside the capsule where Charlene was standing, with just a twinge of green on her cheeks. "Is Finn done yet? The ride I designed him was basically going around a track a couple of times."

"No, but he wasn't in capsule three was he?"

"He was, why?"

"Because that's the capsule that's going haywire," Charlene said, nonchalantly.

"What?" I shouted, looking to see Capsule 3 going all over the place. An attendant was pushing every single button possible to try and stop it but the ride continued on.

"You don't think-"

"-I'm pretty sure that they're back," Charlene interrupted. The ride started to break apart when it suddenly stopped, mechanics and other people rushing at it. Finn was pulled from the wreckage, unharmed thankfully.

"What happened?" I asked him, rushing towards him.

"Oh nothing, it just seems that the ride you designed just tried to kill me," Finn replied, frowning at me, pulling pieces of the ride out of his hair.

"Excuse me," I replied, crossing my arms.

"You designed the ride. You handed me the card," he stated.

"If you're implying that I chose to sentence you to die in that simulator, you're going to be tumbling down those stairs before you can even say sabotage," I growled. He didn't reply and just stared at the ground. I uncrossed my arms and walked towards the stairs, making it down them in record time.

"Azalea! Come back here!" I heard Finn shout.

I rolled my eyes, continuing to walk away from Finn and Charlene who was trailing behind him. I turned down another stair case, flying down them very fast. I made it down to the first floor and found myself staring at the Evil Queen who was staring straight back at me. I sucked in a breath. I quickly dashed towards where the most people were gathered. I was about to run towards the entrance when Cruella De Vil blocked my escape.

I took a step back running into someone's chest. I turned around to see Finn, out of breath, Charlene right behind him. "What do you want?" I replied coldly.

Finn was about to reply when Cruella cut him off. "It's the Kingdom Keepers," she shouted. I felt everyone turn to look at the three of us. A mass of kids rushed at us. Finn started signing everything that the kids wanted and I did the same, realizing that the mass of kids would prevent the OT's from getting to Finn, Charlene, and I.

"Can you sign my hat?" a young boy asked. He looked about five and was blushing. I smiled and bent down to sign his head, looking through the masses legs to see the Evil Queen coming from one direction, Cruella from the other. The fans started screaming loudly, all pointing upwards. I got up, looking as Charlene hung from the ceiling. As she moved, the fan wall did as well. Finn grabbed my hands and pulled me with the fans.

As we reached the entrance, Charlene jumped down and Finn and I ran through the crowd. A few fans followed us as we sprinted towards the bus. The Evil Queen and Cruella de Vil included. Finn fell behind Charlene and me as we ran towards the bus. I looked backwards seeing Cruella at a payphone. Payphone? Since when was there a phone number for evil.

I ignored it as I sprinted onto the bus, where Maybeck was shouting for Finn to hurry up. The bus took off as Finn stepped on. I avoided eye contact with him as I filled in Maybeck about what happened, leaving out the part where Finn accused me of trying to kill him, lest a fight break out between the two. There was always tension between them, and this would just give them both an excuse to get on each other's cases.

The bus stopped at the Transportation Center. I hopped of the bus, promising to text the other Keepers if I heard anything suspicious. I ran towards my dad's car. He was on his way back from a business trip in Boston where the headquarters of the company he works for were located. "Hey sport, how was DisneyQuest?"

"Fun, the simulators there were really cool," I stated, masking the fact that I had been hanging out with the other Keepers and was almost captured by OT's. My dad doesn't like me hanging out with the other Keepers. He says that they have a bad influence on me.

"How's Gram?" he asked.

"Still weak. But she's fighting," I smiled weakly, thinking about my sick Gram. Her breast cancer was taking a toll on her. She was too weak to go through treatment again. She had up to a month left according to the doctors. I didn't tell the other Keepers, I didn't want their pity. We arrived at our home where Gran was lying in her bed, my uncle sitting next to her.

My Uncle Marty lives in Chicago but came down as soon as we found out that Gram was sick, he came down to stay with us. Gram was asleep and Uncle Marty was reading a book in silence. "How is she?" my dad asked, picking up the plate with Gram's dinner on it. I was still mostly full.

"As good as she can get," he sighed, putting the box down on the bookcase. I nodded and went to bring Morris outside. The golden retriever noticed my distress and stayed by my side as I walked out to the backyard.

"I know buddy, I know," I sighed, petting Morris' head.

A.N. Hey everyone I'm back with the fourth installment of my Kingdom Keeper series. Hope you like it!


	2. Chapter 2

Awkward

Azalea's P.O.V.

The next morning I woke up to a text from Finn. "Wanda's in jail. My mom's bailing her out. Tonight, we have to be in Norway's Stave Church at eight as ourselves. Our old friend's orders," Finn had texted. I texted back that I would meet him and the other keepers at Norway that night, not in DHI form. The tricky part would be sneaking out. I hated lying to my dad but duty calls.

I arranged for Maybeck and I to get to Norway by having his aunt drop us off at Downtown Disney. Maybeck told her that there was some Keeper signing thing there and to pick us up whenever he called her. Jelly wasn't suspicious, like I thought she would be, and dropped us off without a second glance. "She's not suspicious?" I asked.

"For now but if I don't call her back before ten she'll call until I answer or have the police track me down," he replied jokingly. We hopped on a bus to Epcot, both of us pulling our baseball caps down in front of our faces, me making sure my braid was tucked under my hat, giving me the appearance of a boy. Nobody gave us a second glance.

We hopped off the bus and made our way towards Norway, keeping our eyes out for park security and OT's. We were the first to arrive at the church, Philby and Willa showing up right after us. Finn showed up a minute later flanked by the sisters. Charlene still hadn't shown up and I chatted with Willa, making sure to avoid eye contact with Finn as much as possible.

"So what's going on between you and Finn? You're acting like he just kicked Morris," Willa asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's nothing," I replied, leaning on the railing watching the start of Illuminations.

"If it's nothing, why aren't you two even looking at each other at all?"

"He accused me of trying to kill him," I replied.

"What?"

"I designed his ride for him and then the ride went all haywire and he blamed it on me," I huffed, looking at the fireworks.

"So, it was probably the OT's messing with the system again," Willa responded.

"I think it was. I designed literally the wimpiest rollercoaster in the history of rollercoasters for him and then after Greg knocked me over, I dropped the cards-"

"Wait, Greg. Like Greg Luowski?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Finn was probably being a typical teenage boy. He saw a threat to what he liked and marked his territory. After the stress of the ride, he took out the stress on you because you were the closest target. Simple logic," Willa said, rolling her eyes.

"You're talking about him like he's a dog or something."

"Maybe, but that's how boys act. They get jealous and protective," Willa said as if she was explaining the alphabet to a class of four-year-olds.

"But why would Finn be jealous of Lousy Luowski?"

"Because he likes you," Willa stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh don't what me. You know exactly what I'm talking about. I saw that little cuddle fest after Fantasmic, so don't play coy with me," she smiled. I blushed remembering the tender moment Finn and I had shared.

"Well what about you and Philby? He's had a crush on you since he laid eyes on you," I responded. Willa blushed as Charlene showed up with food. I wasn't that hungry but nibbled on a biscuit while we all talked.

"So you're saying that the OT's are attacking firewalls?" Finn asked Philby.

"They're trying to locate information about their leaders. We all know that Disney keeping Maleficent and Chernabog prisoner. They require cold, and they aren't going to mistreat them. Lower temperatures in Florida requires more energy, which we would find in the form of a number. A simple system to hack into and take information from."

"So what you're saying is that the OT's are trying to find Maleficent and Chernabog?" Charlene asked.

"It's a jail break," Maybeck stated.

"Exactly. While they're busy with that they need to keep us distracted."

"That's why they locked up Wanda. Give us a red herring so that we don't focus on what they're doing. It all makes sense," Jess butted in. We walked into the church and looked at the artifacts when some girl and her parents walked in. We turned our backs to her when she started looking around. I suddenly felt a tug on my shorts and saw the around five-year-old standing there holding her KP phone out to me.

"You're a part of the Kingdom Keepers aren't you? You're Azalea June," she whispered excitedly. I nodded. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone." I nodded in thanks and looked at the phone.

_Hand your phone to the nearest Kingdom Keeper. Press OK to continue._

"And if the OK button let's our friends know where we are, what do we do then?" Terry asked, looking over my shoulder. I pressed the button.

_Head to the KP cart in Norway and tell the attendant that you are a friend. –W. Press OK to continue. _

I pressed OK.

_Hand phone back to guest._

I handed the phone back to the little girl who insisted that we sign her Kingdom Keeper bag. She left with her parents afterwards as we headed to the Kim Possible cart in Norway. Well, more like I tried to head that way but Philby and Terry blocked my path. "What if it's a trap?"

"Look, that's the only clue we have. You guys can look around at the artifacts if you want but I'm doing what the old guy sent us here to do with or without all of you."

"I know he did that, but what if the OT's rigged the thing. They have just as much if not more power as our friend at the moment," Philby replied.

"Philby's right. We should split up. Two groups of two at either Mexico or Norway, so that they can text the others if crash test dummies are headed for them. Charlene, Amanda, Jess, and I will head to the cart. Maybeck and Azalea head over to Mexico and Philby and Willa stay at the other end of Norway," Finn ordered.

I felt offended. "He still doesn't trust me, or else he would've sent me with him to the cart. Of course he paired me with Maybeck. If there's anyone that can overpower me in the group, its Terry," I thought bitterly. Terry and I hid in the stroller parking area of Mexico, looking out for dummies. A duo of crash test dummies started making their way towards Norway.

Maybeck texted Finn quickly, getting a response back immediately. "Let's make a diversion, shall we?" he asked as if asking me to dance with him at a ball.

"It would be my honor," I replied back sarcastically. I grabbed a cup filled with what appeared to be soda. As the dummies passed by, I threw the cup hitting one of them in the back of the head. The wheeled around as Maybeck and I took off, leading the dummies away from Norway and into the densely packed crowd. After we lost them, I received a text from Finn.

"Looks like we're eating ice cream," I told Terry as we walked through the densely packed crowd. He grabbed my hand in his and pulled me through the mass of people. The crowd became less dense the closer we got to the ice cream parlor. Maybeck held onto my hand as we walked through the doors. We quickly dropped our hands as soon as the other Keepers noticed our presence.

Finn's P.O.V.

The bell on the door rang as Maybeck and Azalea walked through the door. Holding hands. I glared at Maybeck as he released her hand and they made their way towards us. Lea went to sit with the other girls as Maybeck sat at Philby and I's table. I wanted to punch him, I wanted to punch Maybeck. In the face. With a chair.

My blood boiled at the thought of Maybeck and Azalea having anything more than a friendly relationship. But, why? She wasn't my girlfriend, I had no claim over her what so ever. She probably hates me after I accused her of working for the enemy. But after the guy at the cart gave me the photos, there was no way that she was the traitor.

It was Charlene. One of the photos showed her walking into the restroom where the Evil Queen was. She stayed in there for about five minutes according to the surveillance photos. I turned to Philby and Maybeck, restraining myself from throwing my ice cream at him. "So what do the photos tell us?" Maybeck asked.

"That Charlene's a traitor, though I doubt willingly. The Evil Queen must have put a spell on her. The question is how to break it," I replied.

"Ten times out of ten a kiss breaks the curse. Why don't you do it," Philby said, said motioning towards me.

"What! I can't do that!" I replied, thinking about Azalea.

"Well, I can't do it either," Philby replied indignantly.

"Maybeck!" we said at the same time, looking at our friend who had gone to get ice cream. Philby walked over to him and whispered something in his ear. He raised an eyebrow and frowned as Philby told him the plan. We all grouped together talking about what the group had found while on the KP mission. "First there was the waiter," I stated.

Azalea's P.O.V.

I ate my ice cream as the rest of the group recounted what they had done. "Then there was the gnome. And then the flag. And then the photo. What does that mean?" Jess asked.

"Maybe instead of a waiter it was a server, like the DHI server. Who needs a server?" Amanda stated.

"We do, as do the OT's," I replied.

"Then the gnome, it was spinning," Finn started.

"Not spinning. Turning, turning his back on you," Philby corrected. I looked towards Terry who was glaring at Charlene. I elbowed him questioningly but he ignored me.

"The flag was red," Charlene said, noticing Terry's glare.

"Like something you need to watch out for," Finn replied staring at her as well. I raised an eyebrow at both boys.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Charlene asked.

"Oh it's nothing. It's just that you've never looked prettier," Maybeck replied smoothly. I looked at Maybeck as if he had grown a second head. I was about to say something when I felt someone kick me under the table. I looked under the table to see Finn retracting his foot giving me a look that said "I know it seems like he has gone crazy but just play along".

Maybeck continued to smooth talk Charlene but it had no effect on her. I rolled my eyes at the rest of the group, feeling like the only sane one left. Amanda and Jess were giggling, Willa was blushing. Philby and Finn were staring at Terry and Charlie as if they need to see the exact moment the two's lips touched. Charlie pushed Terry away and the awkward air slowly dissipated.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Family Matters

A.N. Warning: This chapters a tear jerker. Contains character death. Get your tissues ready, here we go.

Azalea's P.O.V.

When I got home that night, I started to walk towards my grandmother's room startled to see my dad and Uncle Marty in tears. I rushed into the room, moving to my grandmother's bedside. She looked weaker than usual as I held onto her hand and rubbed circles over the bruise she had from the IV with my thumb. "What's wrong?" I asked, looking to any adult in the room for an answer of some kind.

"I'm dying, Lea," my grandmother said quietly. My head snapped to look at her as if she had just renounced cooking.

"What? N-N-No you're not. Y-Y-You're going to be just fine. Right?" I asked, my voice cracking as I looked to my dad for an answer. He looked away, rubbing his wet eyes with his forearm. Tears came to my eyes as I turned back to look at my grandmother, tears flowing freely down my cheeks.

"Lea, I love you so much," my grandmother rasped.

"I love you too," I replied solemnly.

"You're a smart girl. You have courage, and you made me the proudest grandmother there ever was."

"You're talking like you're leaving me," I whimpered. My grandmother squeezed my hand lightly.

"I'm not leaving you, I'm not leaving any of you. I'll always be with you, in there," Gram smiled painfully as she pointed to my heart. "I love you, all of you very much. You've all made me so proud, and I know you'll continue to make me proud . . ." my grandmother said, before she closed her eyes. Her hand fell limply in mine as I cried.

"No . . . you can't leave me. Wake up, please. Please, Gram, wake up. I need you. I love you, so wake up Gram, please!" I cried, leaning onto the bed. My dad placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Lea . . ."

"She's not dead!" I denied. "She's just sleeping." Although I knew my grandmother would never wake up from this sleep. I looked up at my dad as he gently pulled me up into standing position and lead me out of the room. I looked back as my Uncle Marty covered her with the covers. I laid in bed as my dad went to call the funeral home. They arrived a few minutes later and I watched them drive away.

I sat down on my bed after that. My mind was blank, it hadn't wrapped around the idea that she was gone. My Gram was more of a mother to me than a grandmother, considering she was the one who raised me by herself up until recently. My dad walked in after the funeral home workers left, and closed the door lightly.

I didn't even turn to look at him. I just sat staring out the window in the direction the funeral home workers had gone. My dad sat down next to me and sighed deeply. "Lea-"

"-When's the funeral?" I cut him off.

"Saturday, four days from today. You don't have to go-"

"I'm going . . ." I replied swiftly. After a few moments I sighed. "Why did she have to get sick, dad?"

"Well things happen, and good things don't always happen to good people. Sometimes bad things happen to very good people. It's just the way life works," my dad soothed. "Come here." He pulled me into a hug which I returned, letting more tears flow. We sat like that for about a half an hour just remembering Gram.

"You don't have to go to school," my dad stated. I nodded and sat back on my pillows. My dad left to call the school. It was at that moment I realized it was seven in the morning. I hadn't slept a peep all night and I didn't want to either. As I laid on my bed I heard Morris come into my room. He hopped on my bed, something I usually didn't allow and rested his head in my lap.

I got up and went into the bathroom, washing my face. I washed off the tears stains and tried to make my eyes loose the redness they had acquired over the time that I had cried my eyes out. I brushed my hair quietly, seeing as it was taking up time and it looked like a mess anyways. But, I guess I brushed my hair for almost an hour because it gave me something other than . . . that to focus on.

I walked downstairs, Morris walking quietly behind me. I sat at the table staring at the eggs in front of me, glaring at them as if they were the reason I was feeling so depressed. "Eat at least a few bites, Lea," Uncle Marty pleaded, pretending to read the newspaper. I picked up my fork and speared a bundle of egg. I placed it in my mouth and chewed quietly.

It wasn't my grandmother's eggs. Hers were always so light and fluffy and always had the correct amount of salt on them. These were half burnt and seemingly doused in pepper, as if the person making it picked up the wrong shaker. "Where's my dad?" I asked, after swallowing the eggs.

"Making some phone calls, he's just in his office," Uncle Marty sighed. I finished the eggs as if it were a chore in itself. I put the dish into the sink and walked outside. It was around noon by now and the world seemed to be carrying on not noticing how a life had just ended a few hours ago. The next few days went by quickly. Most of the time I just stared out my window.

I would hear the constant ding from my phone that signaled that I had gotten a text message. Most of them were from Finn and Terry, although I didn't have the heart to answer any of them. The day of the funeral arrived and I dressed in the outfit my dad had left out for me. The trip to the funeral home was silent.

We arrived at the funeral home and walked into the main hall. The funeral was to be a closed casket reception, which was a good thing because I fear I would have collapsed if it were an open casket. My father was one of Gram's four children: my Uncle Fred, my dad, Uncle Marty, and my Aunt Patty. I was the eldest grandchild.

We all stood in a line next to the casket waiting for the guests to arrive. They came in small groups. I met some of my Gram's old friends, customers from the bakery, my dad and his sibling's old friends from the area, and people in the community my grandmother had affected. I simply shook their hands, saying thank you when they stated that they were sorry for her death.

I finished talking to one of my cousins when I noticed familiar faces. The Kingdom Keepers were standing quietly in the corner, all dressed up, and looking at me. I excused myself and went over to talk to them. Willa was the first to notice me and pulled me into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Lea," Willa stated.

I nodded silently as Charlene hugged me replying the same message. Philby hugged me as well. Terry pulled me into a tight hug, his arms enveloping me. He whispered comforting words in my ear as he let go of me. Finn stood silently as we both stared at each other before hugging me slowly and softly. I tried to not cry, lest I ruin his shirt.

"Thanks, all of you, for coming here," I smiled painfully.

"Amanda and Jess send their condolences. Mrs. Nash wouldn't let them leave," Terry said quietly. I nodded in understanding until I noticed another familiar face.

"Is that Wanda?" I asked. Finn nodded and pushed me towards her. She greeted me as they all did and hugged me tightly as well.

"I knew your grandmother very well," Wanda said quietly.

"You did?"

"Yes, I would hope I would know my own mother-in-law," Wanda smiled slightly. I raised an eye brow in confusion.

"Mother-in-law?" I asked. Wanda nodded motioning for me to follow her. She led me to a small courtyard outside the funeral home and motioned for me to sit down next to her on the bench.

"I believe I owe you an explanation," Wanda sighed. "Your grandmother is my mother-in-law because I married one of her sons. I fell in love with GI Joe as I liked to call him. He called me Addi because my middle name is Addison. We were in love, we even had a child together. And then I had to leave because I was putting the man I loved in danger as well as our baby."

"GI Joe? I can't be Uncle Marty, he doesn't have any kids. And Uncle Fred and his wife were high school sweethearts, so that leaves . . . ."

"Your father: George Isaac June," Wanda finished for me. I stood up in shock.

"My dad! So that means that you're . . . my mother," I breathed. Wanda Mom stood up, her hands at her sides. She nodded to confirm.

"I am your mother, Lea," she smiled slightly. I rushed into her embrace looking for any form of comfort.

"Why did you leave?" I asked, tears flowing from my eyes.

"The OT's were brewing and trying to force Wayne, your grandfather, out of hiding. They tried to find me. But, if they found me they would find you and your father and I couldn't put either of you in danger so I left."

I bit my lip as I heard a voice calling my name. "Lea, the ceremonies are about to start-"my father started to say. "Addi?"

My mom nodded smiling weakly as she stepped away from me. "Hey George."

My father stepped forward and I got out of his way as he walked in front of my mother. "Is it really you?"

My mother nodded, biting her lip as tears started to build up. I watched, smiling for the first time since my grandmother died, as my parents embraced each other lovingly. My mother motioned for me to join in the hug. I walked over slowly, not wanting to intrude on their moment until my dad pulled me into the hug. I closed my eyes and smiled a genuine smile as I hugged my parents not just one parent anymore.

A.N. Don't think that Azalea is using Wanda as a replacement for her grandmother because she's not, she's lived her whole life not knowing her mother and is happy that her mother has returned to her life. Sorry for the depressing chapter, I was just really down when I wrote this. Thanks to all the people out their who encouraged me to continue this story, I didn't think anyone really read this which is why I stopped updating. Thank you again!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Back to Keeper Business

Azalea's P.O.V.

Although the discovery of Wanda as my mother had helped me heal, it didn't completely cover the wound left by my grandmother's passing. I returned to school the following week and caught up in all my classes relatively quickly. Lunch, the best time of the day, had arrived and I sat alone at a table waiting for Finn to show.

I had to wait a good five minutes until he arrived. "Has Lousy Luowski seemed different lately?" he asked, tense.

"Why hello to you as well," I replied sarcastically.

"I'm being serious."

"More zits, might have gained another ten pounds after his daily serving of stupid. I tend to avoid the dude, I wouldn't have noticed. Besides, if you're asking about anybody looking different it should be Sally."

"Sally?"

"Ringwall. She's in my gym class. She had those contacts that change your eye color. She changed hers to green." We ate in silence until Finn broke it once again.

"We rescued Charlene."

"Rescued?"

"We think she was under some kind of spell from the Evil Queen," he said, pulling two photos from his pants pocket. One showed the Evil Queen talking to Charlene and she looked like she was listening to the witch.

"You kept this from us?" I replied.

"We kept it from Charlene, yes." I rolled my eyes and attempted to eat the food they called a salad from the cafeteria.

"Is it even legal to serve food like this to children?" I asked.

"Maybe Luowski looked different to me because he was wearing green contacts. Think about it, the Evil Queen talked to Greg, Sally, and a bunch of other kids. Then they come into school wearing green contacts. Green means Maleficent."

"I think you should take it easy on that baked potato," I said, referencing his school lunch.

"Its chicken and rice," he responded. "Never mind, go over and look at his eyes."

"Are you crazy? If he sees me he's going to try and serenade me again."

"Well if he sees me he's going to go all Neanderthal on me," Finn retorted. I rolled my eyes as went to throw out my lunch. As I passed Greg on the way to the trash can I noticed his green eyes and a shiver went up my spine. I mouthed 'green' to Finn as I made my way out of the cafeteria. As I made my way to my locker, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I unlocked my phone to see a message from Philby:

_Meet at Crazy Glaze after school we have to talk. _

I grabbed my books for the next class and headed for math. After school, I told my dad I was staying after to finish a test and would be home by five. I grabbed my skateboard from my locker as well as my helmet and pads. What? I'd rather skin my knees by running from OT's then from hitting a crack in the sidewalk.

I rode to Crazy Glaze where Jelly motioned me in and pointed towards the back room. I nodded in thanks and walked into the room to see Maybeck and Philby already there. I placed my bag and skateboard down before sitting at the table with my fellow Kingdom Keepers. We waited until everyone, minus the sisters who were grounded, to arrive before starting.

Finn apparently had a run in with Lousy again. "The OT's have recruited kids from our schools to be OT's in training," Willa stated.

"They're there to keep an eye on us, to intimidate us," Maybeck replied.

"But why the green contacts, it makes them stand out," Charlene retorted.

"To show that they're a part of a clique. It makes them feel superior, like they can beat us with just a glance," I said, crossing my arms.

"I talked to Jess today in school. She had another vision. It was this military guy or something. Like an officer."

"Well that leads us nowhere unless we can properly analyze it."

"I say, if we're not doing anything, to gang up on one of these OT's in training. Not one-on-one more like a four-on-one situation. Let's see how strong they are then," Terry said, arms crossed.

"I'll have to agree, who's our target?"

"Sally, I have two classes with her, she doesn't have that much common sense so we should be fine," I replied.

"So it's agreed." We went our separate ways afterwards, me making it home at four o'clock. I walked through the door and put my skateboard in the closet.

"I'm home!" I shouted. I placed my backpack in the corner and walked in to see my mom at the counter sorting paperwork. She had moved back in with us after Uncle Marty went back home. Aunt Patty was now running the bakery. "Where's Dad?"

"Upstairs in his office, don't disturb him he's on an important phone call." I nodded and sat down at the table to do my homework. After I finished my homework I helped Mom make dinner. My dad came downstairs afterwards and we ate dinner. After dinner, I went outside with Morris and played fetch. I threw a stick for him and he retrieved it.

"Good boy, hey, what's that you got there?" I asked. I grabbed the stick out of his mouth and pulled off the item off of the stick. I unraveled the cloth surrounding it until a stone was revealed. On it was scratched a message.

_Beware the kiss and the spindle. Know friend from foe and which friend is which._

I raised an eyebrow. It wasn't signed by anyone which was part of my suspicion but I kept the rock, just in case a problem arises that this would help solve. "C'mon boy, let's go inside," I said, having to drag Morris back inside, which meant dragging him through mud, which meant giving him another bath. "You couldn't be a whiny toddler when there wasn't any mud now could you?" He barked in response. I rolled my eyes and set to work washing the mud off of him. "You're lucky you're cute."

The next day was the day that Amanda, Charlene, and I were going to corner Sally. Charlene showed up around lunch, handing us each a pantyhose. I pulled it over my head distastefully and hid in the band room along with Charlene. When Amanda pushed Sally inside Charlene and I sprang into action. Charlene ran at her except Sally knocked her away like a rag doll.

I lunged at her next, piggy-backing her, chocking her with my forearms. She retaliated by throwing me into a wall. I groaned, getting back up and lunging at her once again, this time pinning her, using her strength to my advantage. She couldn't get out of my grip. "What do you want?"

"Power. Doesn't everyone?" she replied.

"I meant from us," I stated.

"You think you're so special don't you," she growled.

"What are you getting out of this huh? Doing someone's dirty work? What does that make you?"

"A part of the future," she cackled. I stared in horror at the girl I had successfully pinned.

"How many of you are there?"

"More than your imagination can contain. More every day. By this time Saturday you'll be defenseless to stop us, Kingdom Keepers," she replied.

I gave Charlene the signal and she nodded. After three seconds I released Sally and the three of us sprinted up the staircase to the mob upstairs. The noise behind us sounded like a rhino running through a china shop. I didn't look back. After we entered the mob, we made our way to the cafeteria to tell Finn what we had found out. But he wasn't there. Where could he have gone?

A.N. A filler, sorry, next chapter will be better, promise!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A Kiss

Azalea's P.O.V.

After school I met up with Philby, Finn, Charlene, and Maybeck at Marble Slab. Charlene and I filled the boys in on what Sally had told us. "So basically their numbers are growing at a rate we can't control and there's something huge going down on Saturday?" Finn asked.

"Pretty much."

"Can we get to the more stressing topic? Willa's in SBS and the server won't allow me back on. It's either the Imagineers or-"Philby said hurriedly as if he were about to have a total panic attack.

"-the OT's," Terry replied grimly.

"When Wayne was talking about the server, do you think he was talking about how the OT's hacked the server and locked us out?" Finn questioned.

"Yeah, they were probably waiting for me. Now we have two options: rehack the server or find Willa and get her a fob," Philby responded.

"Good luck with that, it'll take years to find her. We don't even know which park she's in," Maybeck pointed out.

"We have to try," I sighed.

"I say we go in and find her as ourselves. Get Philby to the server room by using our employee passes. We have to get her back," Finn said.

"I can't go right now, my mom's waiting for me at home," Charlene replied.

"Jelly will cover for us, she knows what it's like to have a kid in the Syndrome. Just tell all your parents that you guys are coming over to my place to study for an exam," Terry stated, the ghost of a smile on his face.

"But we aren't in exams," Philby pointed out.

"Well do you think your parents know that?" Terry replied, smirking at his idea until I kicked him under the table. Jelly dropped us off at the park, minus Charlene. We got in using our employee passes and were about to enter the Utilidor when Maybeck pulled us into the shadows. "Pirates."

Sure enough two pirates guarded the entrance to the Utilidor. "What do we do now?" I asked.

"There's a second entrance over by Splash Mountain," Finn replied, eyeing the pirates.

"That's all the way on the other side of the park. And they're probably guarding that one as well," Philby sighed.

"How do you guys feel about getting a little dirty?" Finn smirked.

"Excuse me?" I responded as Finn grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the parking lot. An overpowering stench made my eyes water. "What the heck is that smell?" Except I didn't say heck.

"Brilliant Finn!" Philby shouted.

"No way in heck am I going down there," I said, plugging my nose.

"That's fine, you and Macbeth over there can guard the entrance while Philby and I head down. All you guys have to do is push the red button to stop the machine. Press it again when the machine starts up again."

"If you don't press it, this could turn bad. By bad I mean fatal. As in dying!" Philby shouted again. We didn't have to worry about anyone hearing us because the machine was loud enough on its own.

"Got it, press red button. Simple enough," Maybeck responded. Finn pressed the button and went down the chute first. Philby went after him and we heard them crawling away. The job was simple enough for Terry and I that is until the engineers showed up. Terry pulled me behind the recycling bin as the two engineers rounded the corner.

"What kind of knucklehead would press the emergency button on the trash chute?" one of them stated. As Maybeck and I watched the engineers converse I felt the ground beneath me start to rumble. The machine had restarted! I hoped that Finn and Philby had made it to the other end by know because we couldn't stop the machine until the engineers left.

They looked like that they were used to waiting. They were just standing in front of the machine talking about their lives when two of my best friends' lives were at stake. And I was powerless to do anything to change it. When the guys finally left I rushed out from behind the bin and pushed the button. I heard the machine stop and hoped that Finn and Philby would magically pop out of the trash chute, unscathed.

A minute later Finn's hand appeared in the darkness. Maybeck grabbed his hand and pulled Finn out. Philby was pulled out seconds later. I was happy to see them alive put their smell repelled me. I plugged my nose as my eyes watered. We rushed out to the front where Finn's mom was waiting in the car. I quickly called shotgun and hopped into the car before one of the boys got in front of me.

"You two stink!" Finn's mother said.

"We went dumpster diving," Finn responded. His mom didn't push him farther on the subject.

"Willa's mother called," Finn's mom stated, the words hanging in the air like lead. I gulped as Mrs. Whitman turned to look at me, giving me the eyes that said I know exactly what you're supposed to say and if you don't say it then you're walking home. "She said you knew what it was about."

"You probably don't want to know," I gulped.

"Try me."

"Willa's in SBS because of the OT's. We couldn't cross her back because they locked us out of the server," Finn stepped up.

"But I can control it again, which is why we were in Magic Kingdom today. But we would have to do a physical Return. She has to be at an exact spot for it to work."

"We're doing all we can for Willa. We just have to cross over tonight and get her there," I voiced. Mrs. Whitman looked less than pleased.

"Why didn't she just hit that button you guys have?"

"The fob is in Epcot. So we would have to retrieve that first and going into Epcot is too . . ."

"Risky," Terry stated.

"Dangerous," Finn added.

"Which is it, risky or dangerous?"

"Both," we all said at the same time.

"So what can I do to help?" Mrs. Whitman asked.

"For one thing you can call Philby and Terry's parents telling them that they're sleeping over," Finn spoke.

"I can do that."

"We have to get Maybeck, Finn and Azalea to cross over and find her. What about your dad, Azalea?" Philby questioned.

"My dad's away on a trip, my mom will understand," I responded.

"Mom? I thought . . ."

"If I told you, you guys wouldn't believe me," I exclaimed.

"Try us," Terry responded.

"Wanda's my mom," I stated, completely serious.

"Yeah, and I'm the Easter Bunny," Philby snorted.

"I'm serious!"

That night, Finn texted I saying that Terry was over his house, Philby's parents wouldn't allow him to sleep over a fellow Keepers house. I texted back that I was ready whenever they were. I laid in bed and waited for the familiar feeling to overtake me. We had arranged for a manual Return at one just in case anything went wrong. I fell asleep and felt the familiar tug.

I awoke in Epcot next to Finn and Maybeck. We decided to split up and cover more ground. I headed towards the Lost and Found which is where Philby said was Willa's location when we had crossed over. I walked briskly until we heard a scream. "Willa!" I shouted, taking off in the direction of the scream. As I rounded the corner I saw the Evil Queen and Cruella de Vil cornering Willa.

"Ah, and here's your little rescue party. Tut, tut. I expected some more resistance. Oh well, this just makes it easier for me," the Evil Queen cackled, raising her hand at me. I suddenly felt sleepy before everything turned green.

Finn's P.O.V.

We had split up, against my better judgment. Maybeck and I went to locate the Illuminations projector while Lea went to go find Willa. We manually granted access to Philby and I took off to find Azalea. I heard commotion coming from a corner and gradually peeked out from behind the wall to see Willa being held up by spiders, the Evil Queen obviously in control of them.

Though what made my blood run cold was the fact that Azalea stood there, motionless. Willa saw me which lead to the Evil Queen's discovery of me. "Stop him!" the Evil Queen shouted. Azalea turned around like a robot, her eyes glowing an eerie green. She charged me, looking like she was trying to kill me.

"She's under some kind of spell Finn, that's not Azalea!" Willa shouted.

I ducked a punch thrown by Azalea and pushed her into the trash bins, trying not to hurt her. While she was stunned, I ran and pushed Willa away from the spiders and took off in towards where Maybeck was waiting. I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Azalea in pursuit. I stopped and faced her. "We can't leave without her!"

"Then we're going to have to break the curse! And by we I mean you!" Willa shouted from ahead of me.

"And how exactly am I going to break the curse?" I shouted back, trying to restrain Azalea. She was stronger than I remembered and easily slipped out of my grip. She sent a kick at me which sent me flying into a tree.

"You have to kiss her!" Willa screamed as spiders headed for her once again.

"What?" I shouted, grabbing Azalea. She got out of my grip easily again.

"That's how Charlene's curse was broken. Just kiss her already Whitman!" Willa screamed. I sighed, nervous. The next time Azalea sent a punch at my face, I restrained her. She was stronger than me, but using my weight advantage, I pinned her between me and a table. She thrashed in retaliation as I tried to kiss her. I sucked up courage and crashed my lips onto hers.

Azalea's P.O.V.

I felt woozy for a few minutes until I felt pressure on my lips. Opening my eyes I stared at Finn whose eyes met mine. I glanced down to see that it was indeed Finn who was kissing me. I didn't know whether to kiss back or pull away so I just sat there. Slowly, we both pulled away, a blush obvious on both of our faces. Finn helped me back up, not saying a word.

"Let's go lovebirds!" Willa shouted. With a glance at Finn I followed Willa to the fountain where Maybeck was already waiting. We stopped at the fountain but I didn't wake back up in my bed.

"Where's Philby?" I asked, noticing the shadows of the Evil Queen and Cruella behind us. The signal went off. It was a set of pyrotechnics in the lake. There was no way that Philby would miss that. The Evil Queen reached for me but before she could grab me I woke up in my bed. Sweat dripped down my forehead.

A.N. Last chapter until next weekend probably cause school is a pain. Hope you liked the chapter.


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